News: State & West News

Lauretta Anzalone looks at pictures of her Mountain Shadows home that was destroyed in the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs, CO, Saturday June 30, 2012. (DP | Craig F. Walker)

Mountain Shadows residents in the Waldo Canyon fire area will be permitted to visit their properties beginning at 10 a.m. Sunday. The fire is at 30 percent containment Saturday morning, but firefighters warn that weather conditions will be tougher than Friday.

Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach also called on the community to come together to help those affected by the fire, including businesses that may have previously been closed off to customers earlier in the week.

"If everybody in our city will do one small thing, one small thing it will be an amazing result," Bach said.

The air will be hotter, dryer and winds will be stronger and changing directions, Incident Commander Rich Harvey said in a news briefing this morning. Possible afternoon thunderstorms could bring gusty winds, he added.

The tougher conditions will test the ability of firefighters to hold their lines, but they will attempt to increase containment as well, said Jeri Marr, U.S. Forest Service supervisor.

"We feel real great about the hard work we've done," Marr said. "Today will be a great test."

Saturday's weather forecast calls for temperatures near 100 degrees, which is 15 degrees above the normal for this time of year.

Only Mountain Shadows residents who live within the boundaries of 30th Street on the south, Centennial Boulevard on the east and Flying W Ranch Road to the north will be allowed access to their homes Sunday. Residents may drive their own cars in between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and must provide proof of residency at designated check-in areas.

North division residents must check-in at Eagle View Middle School , while south division residents will check in a the Verizon building.

Officials are encouraging residents to secure their property and clean out refrigerators at homes that are not visibly damaged. There will be no access to homes destroyed by the fire Sunday.

Further information on precautions to take while in the area will be posted on Springsgov.com.

Other officials said a small army of utility employees will attempt to restore gas, electricity and water to most of the 990 homes that have been affected by the fire.

Gov. John Hicklooper has signed an order approving the use of 160 National Guard police officers to take over some of the traffic control and neighborhood patrolling duties so that Colorado Springs police officers can return to their normal responsibilities.

The Colorado Springs Police Department is still working to track down a small number of people who are still unaccounted for.

Chief Peter Carey also confirmed 22 burglaries and attempted burglaries in evacuation zones since the fire broke out. One arrest has been made and police are actively working these cases, according to a news release.

Fire crews will work to hold and improve the line from Rampart Ridge Road south to Highway 24, eliminating hotspots, extinguishing roll-out logs and protecting homes. Firefighters are working as quickly as possible to reopen Highway 24. Crews also will likely perform burnouts as large as 50 acres along the northeast border of the fire, which may produce dark pillars of smoke.

Ten helicopters will make retardant drops on the northern perimeter as firefighters attempt to hold the blaze south of Monument Creek. Air, bulldozer and hand crews are aggressively attacking three spot fires that flared up northeast of Rampart Reservoir.

They are building a contingency bulldozer line along Mt. Herman Road north of the fire.

Officials said they are keeping a close eye on a section of the fire burning in the north border near Monument Creek. The fire borders a narrow, steep ridge that crews hope the blaze will not jump.

"Our concern is if the fire gets hot enough is if it gets over that area and then it could be off to the races again," said Rich Harvey, incident commander.

The Waldo Canyon fire has burned 347 homes in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood as well as a fire station and a Red Cross evacuation shelter.

As of Friday night, the wildfire had burned 17,033 acres and was 25 percent contained. The cost of fighting the blaze has risen to $6.9 million. Nearly 1,300 people are battling the wildfire that started a week ago.

President Barack Obama toured the devastation and shook hands with firefighters and thanked them for their service Friday.

"For those families, the work and the sacrifice of those firefighters means the world to them," Obama said at a news conference outside a Colorado Springs fire station.

Authorities on Friday confirmed that the remains of two people were found at 2910 Rossmere St. Neighbors said a couple in their 70s live there alone and have not been seen or answered their cellphones since the fire broke out.

Also Friday, officials said U.S. Forest Service investigators were interested in speaking with anyone who was in the Waldo Canyon or Pyramid Mountain areas during the afternoon, evening or night of June 22, the day before the blaze was reported.

The FBI has previously said it is working with local authorities to determine whether the fire is a result of a criminal act.

El Paso County Sheriff's public information officer Sgt. Joe Roybal said the sheriff's department received a report of smoke on June 22 at 7:49 p.m. about three to five miles from the Crystal Park area. According to the report, the smoke was in the mountains north of Cave of the Winds.

Roybal said fire resources were dispatched to investigate the report, but found no smoke and became impaired by low-light conditions. The investigation resumed on the morning of June 23 when several calls about visible smoke and fire were received by dispatchers.

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